Social Media 201 Beyond The Basics

What is Social Media? Social media are media for social interaction using highly accessible publishing techniques. Social media uses web-based technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogues.

Social Media Revolution View the Social Media Revolution video

Social Media Dos and Don’ts -Be personal, not a robot -Engage in dialogue, not 1 way conversation -Post frequent, relevant content -Don’t jump on board with social media until there is a strategy behind it

Social Media Sites

Most popular sites in US

Facebook

Facebook currently has 500 million users yr olds make up almost 1/2 of the entire US user base yr old females is currently the fastest growing segment of users.

Facebook

Facebook - Cause vs. Page Causes are special pages that are made available to individual activists, nonprofits, foundations, organizations and companies. Unlike pages, they offer a donation option, which is paid out monthly to the group beneficiary.

Cause Example- ASPCA Click here to view the ASPCA Facebook cause

Facebook - Cause vs. Page Pages are not specific to a cause. They can be created for any type of business, product, blog, public figures, music artists, athletes and more. It’s recommended that organizations start with a page and then leverage the audience to then build up the “Cause” feature to solicit donations from this audience.

Page - ASPCA

Twitter

Twitter ended 2009 with just over 75 million user accounts. Only 21% tweet on a daily basis yr olds make up just over half of the user base. There are over 27.3 million tweets sent per day.

Twitter Example - GBFB

Twitter Vocabulary - Hashtag By placing a “#” in front of “nonprofit” I was able to make it a searchable word. Now others who are searching on that hashtag can see my tweet, even if they aren’t following me.

YouTube

In 2009, YouTube had over 100 Million users and 14.8 billion hours of video loaded on it’s site. YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world (and no wonder - it’s owned by Google). Users age are slightly more active than the younger age groups.

YouTube Example - VTFB

LinkedIn

LinkedIn has over 80 million professionals who use the site. The average age of the LinkedIn user is % of users are male. 80% are college educated. Average income of the LinkedIn user: $109,000.

LinkedIn - Contacts Users can manage their contact lists like they would in their outlook programs. You can export, organize alphabetically and import your own contacts from outlook. This can help you find others to connect with.

LinkedIn - Groups Users can join groups based on interest, geography, workplace, and more. Groups are a great way to participate in conversation, gain visibility and make more connections.

LinkedIn Example

Location-based Services (LBS) A location-based service (LBS) is an information and entertainment service (not always), accessible with mobile devices through the mobile network and utilizing the ability to make use of the geographical position of the mobile device.

Location-based Services (LBS) Why do people use it? -Identify location of person or service -Mobile commerce -E.g. Become the mayor of restaurant X on 4square and get a free entrée! -Personalized weather services -Parcel and vehicle tracking

LBS Example - Earthjustice Commuters have checked in at the ads more than 5,700 times, meeting Earthjustice’s $50,000 fundraising goal.

LBS Example - Earthjustice

Social Media Best Practices The following slides contain data that was completed by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (Center for Marketing Research) in June of It is one of the first statistically significant studies on the usage of social media by United States charities. The research showed that almost 85% of charitable organizations are using some form of social media including blogs, podcasts, message boards, social networking, video blogging and wikis.

Social Media Best Practices 1)Blogging is the leading social media channel. 1)57% of charitable organizations blog. 2)52% of survey respondents said they planned to add one in the near future. 3)90% of charities say their blogs are successful in engaging their community. (also consistent with business and academia).

Social Media Best Practices 2) Vital for Fundraising, especially in reaching younger audiences. 1)45% of charitable organizations surveyed agreed with this statement.

Social Media Best Practices 3) Video is now one of the core features of social media 1)Use of video in blogs jumped from 40% in the 2007 study to 65% in 2008.

Social Media Best Practices 4) Social networking sites are considered mainstream and not optional: Social networking is up by 47% since ) Twitter is used extensively for short messages. 2) YouTube video uploads are prominent. 5) Allowing conversation is very important. 1) 85% of charities and organizations with blogs, Twitter accounts and Facebook accounts allowed comments and actively engage in dialogue.

Social Media Best Practices 6) subscription is crucial on your blog. 7) RSS Feed use is considered a vital feature of a blog. 1) 67% of blogs have them. 2) Allow people to subscribe.

Social Media Best Practices 8) Monitoring social media is also very important. 1)75% of respondents monitor the Internet for buzz, posts, conversations and news about their institution. 2)In 2007, 47% manually searched Google with appropriate keywords. 3)In 2008, only 36% manually searched Google, while automated searches for mentions rose by 42% using Google alerts.

Social Media - Monitoring Use Google Alerts to scan the web for conversation about your organization. Use link tracking (like bit.ly) to determine how many people clicked on your link and how many shared it. Use Google Analytics to monitor what social media sites are referring to yours. Use program like TweetDeck to monitor hashtags, keywords, mentions and more.

Social Media and SEO

Value of Social Media Strategy Social media should be viewed as a supporting element to campaigns the organization is running. Like any campaign element, it needs to fit with the overall strategy for the fundraising campaign.

Social Media Strategy Elements covered in strategy:  What is Social Media & Who uses it?  Program Goals (why are they using social media in the first place)  Recommendation of tools and implementation  Posting style (how to write a tweet)  Building followers  Search ability, Metrics and Monitoring

Where do I start?

Work with the client to set realistic goals for how their program will support overall fundraising objectives. Create a social media strategy.  The reality is that content does not go viral very often. Growth of followers takes time, nurturing and patience.  Creating a strategy around these goals is important in keeping sight of why the tools are being used.

Where do I start? Look at upcoming campaigns and events. Brainstorm how social media could act as an interactive supporting element. Review current content like video, writings, and pictures to see what can be repackaged for the various social media sites.

Where do I start? Determine the time commitment the client is ready to make.  2 hr weekly commitment is realistic for maintaining a social media campaign  Write and schedule posts ahead of time (1 hr)  Decide how conversational the client wants to be. Respond to appropriate comments and messages when merited (1 hr, maybe 10 mins per day)

Where do I start? Work with the online team to create a recommendation, provide sample posts and a schedule for the client. Review results with client after each campaign to keep the campaign fresh and moving forward.

Social Media Great whitepaper loaded with case studies, stats and information.  Social Media for Nonprofits 

Social Media Thanks for attending! Questions? Comments?